Halloween Trio
by Kerichi
Summary: A trio of poems, including Hermione's Halloween.


The Warning

Your children untouchable,  
Protected by blood.  
Safe in their noble houses  
Above mire and mud.  
Foolish purity.  
Nothing will save little ones  
From werewolves like me.

.

.

.

Dark Harvest

Plucked like herbs in the autumn,  
Seed pods ripened, Slytherin green  
changing to brown and ash.  
The first fruits of the harvest  
carefully selected.  
Dregs of Muggle society.  
Bodies of wizards and witches  
useful as ginseng roots.

Cut down like wheat,  
the newly slain join corpses  
bundled together, an army  
of sheaves that become stocks  
winnowed by Dark magic.  
The chaff of humanity  
eradicated by enchantment  
as Inferi sink into the lake.

.

.

.

Hermione's Halloween

Orange envelopes on primary school desks  
Invite one, invite all, teacher says  
Each child is cordially invited  
to a Halloween party at the weekend  
Time, place, number: response requested  
Classmates chatter  
Everyone wants to go  
Does she?  
Hermione's eyes linger on the word  
that makes her answer yes

Magician

It's the "how" of magic that fascinates her  
She's read loads of books on the subject,  
dozens of magazine articles  
to the amusement of her doting parents  
They purchased a magic show suitcase  
Deck of cards, props,  
hat with a false bottom,  
a wand  
Ages seven to twelve. Hermione's eight.  
She's practiced and performed

Experiments

Cognitive experiments, to be precise  
Misdirection, altered perception  
Fooling her parents to their delight  
They offer to buy a magician costume  
Hermione wants to be a witch  
Black pointy hat,  
Long velvet dress and cloak  
Broomstick  
Her bushy long hair looks good topped with a hat  
She gets ready for the

Party

Remember, you can eat some sweets if you like,  
Mum and Dad say when they drop her off  
It's their version of have a good time  
The boy greeting guests stares. She says,  
Dentist parents  
Sugars create acids,  
decay  
Hermione hands him a toothbrush and floss  
Host gifts, she mutters and

Escapes

The house is huge, lavishly decorated  
for Halloween, swarming with costumed  
children eating, playing party games  
Hermione walks straight to the back garden  
The magician,  
Fantastic Fauntleroy,  
awaits  
Golden hair, dazzling smile  
Would you care to be my

Assistant?

Party guests gather around, pushing forward  
Reggie, the boy she'd given floss, grins  
when the magician says, Pick a card.  
Queen of Hearts. Fauntleroy bites, pretends to  
swallow the card,  
wiggles, finds it in his  
right shoe  
to laughter and applause  
She checks the deck. None are

Missing

Fauntleroy hands her a golden ball. Heavy?  
She nods, expecting some sleight of hand  
switch to the ball he will "bring to life."  
He winks. Drops the ball. Stay, he commands. It floats  
Delighted gasps  
There are no strings. _No_. _Strings!_  
Hands clap  
Hermione trembles  
This kind of magic is

Real

She follows directions, an automaton  
Fetching props, assisting during tricks  
while her mind tries to make sense of things  
Why pick me? she asks after levitation  
He lifts a brow. Your hat, he confides,  
and it's no fun  
unless someone knows my  
secret  
Fauntleroy bows to the audience. One last  
hurrah, he cries. A grand finale  
Behold the vanishing

Assistant!

Reggie checks out the magician's cabinet  
No false compartments he says, smirking  
as Hermione edges away  
What's the matter, afraid he won't bring you back?  
Terror beads on her skin like sweat drops  
She tastes copper  
on her tongue when she bites  
her lip  
I won't do it, she whispers, shaking her head,  
wishing the cabinet would

Disappear

And then it does. Children gasp. Fauntleroy glares  
at her before putting on a smile  
Since my assistant wanted to stay  
here, I made the cabinet vanish instead!  
Curtsey, he orders Hermione  
Fauntleroy takes  
his final bow. The show's  
over  
Pack my equipment into that carpet bag  
She obeys. Everything

Fits

Capacious Charm with Feather-light Spell, he says  
They're alone in the garden. She gulps  
Aversion Charm. I'm a wizard, girl  
And you are a Muggle-born mucking things up  
I didn't own that cabinet  
It was on loan  
My cousin is going to  
kill me  
Gilderoy—never mind,  
It's best if I make you

Forget

Hermione blinks and she's in the kitchen  
Reggie's mum gives her a fairy cake  
I won't tell your parents if you don't  
A promise and a conspiratorial wink  
An image of a handsome blond man  
flashes brightly  
and then fades until she sees  
nothing  
except a dazzling white smile without a face  
leaving her like Alice

Curiouser

Reggie apologises for being a git  
You're not so bad, Granger, he says  
I'm glad I wasn't the assistant  
Something was dodgy about that magician  
not bringing back his old cabinet  
She barely hears  
Disappointment crushes  
Too late  
What did that bloke give you, Reggie asks. A coin?  
It's in her hand. Gold. Strange.

GALLEON

.

.

.

* * *

A/N: The poems were written for the October Triathlon over on Mugglenet. The first one's a seguidilla, a Spanish verse form, the others free verse, lacking meter and rhyme. If anyone's interested in the story inspired by the third poem, I'd love you to read my one shot **_Hermione's Halloween_**.


End file.
